Dominic Moore-Dunson, one in all Dance Journal’s 2023 “25 to Watch,” first encountered The Keep in mind Balloons throughout a library go to together with his kids. Writer Jessie Oliveros and illustrator Dana Wulfekotte inform the story of a boy, James, and his grandfather, who share reminiscences by passing balloons between them. The grandfather, who has Alzheimer’s illness, slowly loses his balloons over the course of the story.
Moore-Dunson and his spouse, Ashley Moore-Dunson, have been moved to lift consciousness round Alzheimer’s and impressed by the potential of reaching new audiences via stay efficiency. They secured the unique North American rights to create a stage manufacturing based mostly on the image ebook, with an October 18 premiere scheduled in McLean, Virginia, adopted by performances in Sheridan, Wyoming, on November 7 and in College Park, Illinois, on November 12. Deliberate tour stops in 2025 thus far embrace Luling, Louisiana; Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania; Knoxville, Tennessee; Paducah, Kentucky; and Des Moines, Iowa.
The Keep in mind Balloons is written and illustrated for youngsters, but it surely made an enormous impression on you as an grownup reader. What was it about this story that was so transferring?
My spouse and I’ve two toddlers and as we have been on the point of go away the library, I noticed a shelf labeled as kids’s books about tough matters. I’m drawn to tough matters. I pulled out this ebook illustrated in grayscale, with colourful balloons, and I used to be skeptical that something with balloons might be so laborious.
I used to be bawling within the library. That night, my spouse instructed me her grandmother suffered from Alzheimer’s and that she may nonetheless recall the day her grandmother forgot about her.
So immediately, the ebook was already sparking conversations about Alzheimer’s illness.
No person talks about this illness. I’ll ask individuals to lift their hand in the event that they’ve been impacted by it and 75 % of individuals in each room elevate their hand. It’s staggering.
Why do you assume there’s a lot silence round Alzheimer’s?
Private loss and ache can really feel shameful. And it’s a scary illness. It’s scary to look at an individual you like change in entrance of your eyes. In our manufacturing, Grandpa’s demeanor adjustments over the course of the present. The best way you make one thing much less scary is by speaking about it.
Does your stage model differ from the ebook?
Our stage adaptation brings the mom ahead. Within the ebook, James and Grandpa are individuals of coloration, and we develop up in multigenerational houses. I needed our onstage household to be multigenerational. Statistically, in-home caregivers usually tend to be ladies. We would have liked to point out the caregiver who’s caught between elevating her kids and caring for the aged. Who’s caring for her?
What was your creative course of for bringing a ebook to life onstage?
The dancers are shut private pals of mine, individuals who I like and belief. I needed that relationship as a result of I knew we have been going to speak about one thing laborious. The composer, Theron Brown, has challenged me to grow to be a musician and I’ve challenged him to grow to be a dancer. He’s been within the studio with us each day, improvising on the piano because the dancers improvise to search out these characters.
Our motion palette is an fascinating juxtaposition of up to date dance and what we name, internally, “the get-down.” It’s how individuals boogie of their dwelling rooms and at household reunions. Folks acknowledge the get-down from their very own houses, and you may see the viewers smiling. This familial and acquainted motion permits individuals to see the emotional fact inside summary dancing, too.
How do you method theater for younger audiences (TYA)?
I’m a contemporary-dance maker who occurs to be venturing into the TYA house. My position is to determine methods to speak to kindergarteners a couple of tough subject in an accessible means. Youngsters are prepared for these conversations as long as adults put together them to be in a tough house.
One other factor to think about is that youngsters is not going to sit via a present to be well mannered. You should make sure that the excessive and low factors are clear, that every character has a starting, center, and finish. As quickly because the present begins, youngsters should be leaning ahead of their seats. They’ll yell out, “That is boring!” They’re ruthless.
The place do you see this challenge going, long-term?
Certainly one of my desires is to associate with a chapter of a nationwide group, just like the Alzheimer’s Affiliation, to lift consciousness. One of many issues we’re actually making an attempt to get throughout is generational trade, asking grandparents about their tales but in addition listening to the youngest youngsters, as nicely. We’re actually making an attempt to be sincere concerning the wrestle, but in addition the love and pleasure that’s current.
